My main goal was to encompass what I had learned into one cohesive and connected work, demonstrating both the fluidness of the topics, as well as how two could branch off one another, or even the others as well. What I discovered is that they all connect. The main concepts of the AP Lit Summer Readings are as follows: Criticism, Questioning, and Self Fashioning. Also, the readings and BrainPickings of Maria Popova are what enlightens and enriches the three main concepts, as they are an extension of the skills discussed in the previous sections. There were four main ideas in the five pieces I read: curiosity, wonderment, passion for comprehension, and imagination (two articles: 1 and 2). I think a lot of what is discussed in the bigger sections are, in a sense, a form of these sub-ideas from Popova. Criticism certainly deals with all four, seeing as one must wonder and be curious to criticize, as well as wanting to comprehend and broaden an imagination when finding out the answer to criticism. Questions undoubtedly involve curiosity, wonderment, a passion for comprehension. Without that desire to know more, the action of asking would never even occur. It’s the imagination that brings it home by considering what else can be asked and what can be inferred. Self-fashioning deals with all four because to do so, one must look inside and improve and develop themselves as a person and a writer. But that's just the beginnings of the connections.
Like Popova, my concept map integrates quotes that correlate with the topic of that section. I made sure to choose what I felt were some of the heaviest and most important quotes that symbolized what that section was all about. I wanted the map to predominantly consist of quotes because I felt like those were the most powerful parts of the readings; it’s the direct words of the authors that brings the pieces alive. That’s what makes it a Popova piece. The deliberate, intentional, and meaningful integration of these direct quotes is an essential component of Popova’s style. I tried to replicate and deliver on that to create the same effect one might feel when reading a Popova piece. 
The main point I took from both the Popova sections and the bigger sections was that the concept of thought is what ties everything together. The center of my concept map depicts that main idea that branches outward and connects everything. I think another big concept that encompasses the themes and topics is that of art. It's heavily discussed in A.O. Scott's piece with his discussions on "The Artist is Present" and Rainer Maria Rilke's "Archaic Torso of Apollo," in Berger's conversation on the art of questioning, in Greenblatt's chapter, and all over the Brain Pickings by Popova. In a sense, thinking and Art go hand in hand; it's the art of thinking that contributes to our personalities, choices, and creative endeavors. We think about the art we create, and we think about the art presented to us. That’s the one thing I’d take away from the map, the main ideas that unite them all: thought, as well as art and culture. Without them, nothing else would exist or even be a concept, let alone possible. 
Something to consider as I read the pieces was the deeper and more complex connections between them. One of the direct quotes I got from the reading regarding criticism is that "Criticism is thinking. It's a particular kind of thinking"(Scott 254). This comes from the final dialogue chapter at the end of the reading when the questioner and answerer are having their discussion on criticism. I think this sums up the main idea from the first section and what I interpreted from it, on how what we think about art can be a great deal towards what the art is. That's leads directly into what the second passage discusses: the art of questioning. Some of the most intellectual and complex ideas I encountered was the discussions regarding questioning in school, something that has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. I feel like criticism is questioning, in a sense, which I've probably touched on before. When one questions something, I see that almost as criticism itself; a way of thinking that inquisitively comments on what one believes. While that may be a pretty wordy way to describe it, I think it just goes to show how intertwined questioning and criticism can be. A quote from the reading that resonates with me is as follows, “Great questioners ‘keep looking’…they study small details, and they look for not only what’s there but what’s missing”(87). While there were other quotes that I connected with, this one seems to relate to the first passage. I feel like I could exchange the word “questioners” for “criticizers” and it could still make sense. I think self-fashioning goes with these ideas. The biggest ideas that Greenblatt toys are on self-fashioning/constructing a personal identity and culture. He believes that "fashioning oneself and being fashioned by cultural institutions–family, religion, state–were inseparably intertwined"(Greenblatt 256). That's how they relate. It's the art (and culture from that art) that determines who we are. And it's how we respond to that art, how we question it, how we criticize it, that develops our identity. Greenblatt ends with a powerful point, talking about how he wants to"sustain the illusion that I am the principal maker of my own identity"(Greenblatt 257). That's a complex thought. Many may want to believe that we make choices which results in becoming who we are. But I do agree with Greenblatt that in a lot of cases, it's the environment and culture surrounding us that influences our decisions, and by extension influences our character. 
That's the beautiful thing about art and culture. We interpret it in many different ways, which makes us all unique in our own incredible ways. That's what I believe these pieces are trying to tell us.